How Christian Networks in Asia Are Shaping Support for Israel

Trans-Pacific View | Society As Israel faces growing pressure in the West, Eagles’ Wings mission brings Christian leaders from across the globe to show support for the Jewish people and Israel With much of the international discourse, specifically in North America and Europe, focused on criticizing Israel, a large group of international Christian leaders congregated in Jerusalem to show support. One of the key participants was senior Filipino pastor Bishop Dr. David A. Sobrepeña who leads a large evangelical community across the Philippine islands. Bishop Sobrepeña is the founder of Word of Hope Christian Ministries which includes 43 satellite churches and hosts 70 services on any given Sunday across Manila. Partaking in this year’s event, Bishop Sobrepeña stated, “For Christians in the Philippines, the opportunity to come here and pray in Jerusalem is deeply meaningful. We also come to listen to the people of Israel and to carry their stories back to the churches and communities we serve.” The Bishop was one of more than 550 prominent Christian leaders with vast followings who recently participated in a 10-day Eagles’ Wings delegation organized in conjunction with Bishop Sterns and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Attendees hailed from 51 different nations and congregated around the Jewish holiday of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) in Jerusalem, commemorating the third anniversary of the October 7th attack. The gathering offers a window into a less frequently discussed dimension of the Israel debate: the continued mobilization of Christian communities in parts of Asia and the wider Global South around Israel. Taking a closer look at Israel sentiment in Western countries, antisemitism interwoven with anti-Israel sentiment is on the rise. In 2025 the Anti Defamation League (ADL) recorded 6,274 antisemitic events in North America alone. The Hillel organization reported 2,334 incidents across U.S. campuses in the 2024-2025 academic year, stating that, “Antisemitic incidents on campus are at a record high in the past school year.” In Western Europe the Community Security Trust (CST) recorded a staggering 3,700 antisemitic incidents across Britain over the course of 2025, the second highest annual total of such events ever recorded. French authorities cited 1,320 antisemitic acts in 2025, with France’s Interior Ministry calling it a “historically high” figure. As sentiment over Israel grows increasingly polarized in the West, there are a number of well-educated Asian evangelical Christian communities who unequivocally support Israel, comprising the backbone of its support in the region. South Korea is home to nearly 9 million evangelical and Pentecostal Protestants who display the Israeli flag during rallies and prayers. Roughly 8 percent of Singapore’s population run a network of influential evangelical megachurches while boasting an active Christian Zionist movement that mobilizes fundraising initiatives, educational tours and pro-Israel forums. The Philippines is a particularly heavy hitter on the East Asian evangelical pro-Zionist front with an estimated 13 million evangelical adherents within a predominantly Catholic milieu. A Pew study surveying Pentecostals across 10 nations highlighted that 67 percent of Filipino Pentecostals surveyed said they sympathized with Israel. In this context, Eagles’ Wings has been working for the last three decades to bring tens of thousands of evangelical Christians from around the globe to Israel. The organization was founded by Bishop Robert Stearns who is a staunch supporter of Israel and an outspoken supporter of moving the United States Embassy to Jerusalem. In Stephen Spector’s 2008 book Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism, Bishop Stearns discusses Israel’s regional threat profile while declaring himself willing to “die defending Israel.” He has spoken on Israel’s behalf both at the House of Lords in London and the Israeli Knesset. Stearns founded Eagles’ Wings with a clear mission in mind: Firsthand encounters with Israel can be utilized to strongly shape how large Christian networks around the world understand Israel and antisemitism. They have been working to achieve this goal by having brought 25,000+ Christians to the Holy Land, organizing Nexus Leadership Missions which offer intensive educational tours to global pastoral leaders, as well as spearheading the Christian answer to Birthright, dubbed the ‘Israel Experience’, bringing college-age Christian students to Israel. One of the key events as part of this year’s Eagles’ Wings 10-day delegation was “Awake Jerusalem at the Tower of David.” The event took place on October 3 at Jerusalem’s iconic Tower of David with hundreds of Christian leaders from 51 different countries in attendance. The event showcased international Christian artists while also including communal worship being covered and broadcasted by Daystar Television Network, a media partner of Eagles’ Wings. For Israel, the challenges that lie ahead are not merely diplomatic. As the international stage becomes increasingly harder to navigate the relationships that Israel fosters with Asia and the Global South may become of increasing strategic importance. This gathering of 550 Christian leaders from 51 nation-states demonstrates merely one aspect of this shifting climate. Prominent religious communities from the Philippines to Korea and Brazil to Kenya will be able to shape the conversation about Israel within their respective societies. The mobilization of these groups shows the potential benefits that Israel stands to reap from fostering non-traditional alliances and that vis-à-vis culture, religion and interpersonal connections a new path to diplomacy may emerge.